Arizona Meanderings 2026

March 17, 2026 Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Two weeks ago I arrived back in Tucson, staying a couple more weeks at a different Arizona Land Trust campground that was way off the highway. No highway noise, very few people and no barking dogs unlike the "Pads" where I spent most of the winter. So incredibly quiet. Love it. Hiked everyday and it was so private I did a little van dancing. But it was dirty! By the time I left Big Blue was covered in orange dust inside and out! I am definitely not a dirt camper!

Tucson was heating up. It's only March and by the end of the week the temperatures were predicted to be around 105 degrees! Too hot for me! So I did what most van/RV/car-living snowbirds are doing and headed north. Again!

The morning of the day I left, I had my water pump replaced as it was leaking coolant, and the Ford dealership, as usual, screwed up.  They never cease to disappoint. Every hill Big Blue climbed, she would start overheating with a dashboard warning that flashed, "REDUCING ENGINE POWER TO AVOID OVERHEATING"!! WTH??? This never happened all last year as I climbed miles of mountain highways!! I've never not been able to overtake a semi-truck on a hill. Not happy. 

I called Ford and they said there might be an air bubble from not being "burped". For some odd reason the service agent thought I could just take it anywhere and someone could burp it for me quick and easy. Ah no, not without a hefty "diagnostic fee" and a week-long wait for an appointment. I was so furious! I continued driving checking various mechanics along the way.

The Tonto National Forest around and above Payson was a nice, cool 75 degrees so I stayed there for one night. The mud is dry leaving deep ruts in the dirt roads. This creates a worrisome risk of getting stuck, but I ventured onward. Problem is at night the temperature drops to around 31 degrees. Way too cold!  

I attempted to head west of Flagstaff, but the daytime temperature was around 85 degrees. Too hot. However when I was there a few weeks ago the forest service road campgrounds were empty...now they are filled with RVs and vans that came up from the south also to beat the heat! And dead cows! I pulled into one campground wondering why it was empty...

So I headed east. Thankfully van life is very flexible. I went back to Tonto for one more night and nearly got stuck in deep gravel freshly poured at the ditch edge to make the mud less problematic. I didn't trust the wet road ahead with snow on the side so I attempted a backup on a single lane dirt road. Reversed too far into the fresh gravel on the edge of the ditch. I spent about a half an hour trying to dig one of my tires out that spin down about a foot. The one tire was dug so deep the front tire was off the ground! How stressful! I really need to be more careful. I'm out of practice, I think. The next morning I continued east.

I found a mechanic in Show Low with an appointment wait of only two days. Show Low was around 89 degrees. Too hot! 

Where to camp for coolness for two days? Several people have told me to go to Alpine where the temperatures are nice and the trees are lovely. It's in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest with free dispersed camping. I stopped at the forest ranger station to ask about camping. The ranger was not helpful and rather rude. I asked him if these sites have trees and he sarcastially said, "Of course, it's a national forest!" To which I replied, "There are no trees driving in to Alpine so it really doesn't look like a guarantee." Never mind all the fire damage around leaving toothpicks of black wood in place of what used to be trees! What an idiot! (On the way to Show Low around Linden, the forest was blackened and the ground was still smoking! Fire risk signs say HIGH all over.)

The snarky ranger was no help finding a dispersed campsite so I just drove until I found a dirt road with a "LEAVING IS YOUR CAMPFIRE COLD?"  sign. Very quiet and peaceful. There was another van near the entrance so I continued. Not many dedicated campsites along the road so I ended way in the back, but it's quiet and beautiful.

Morning View with the Sun Rise

I went hiking with my new hiking boots carrying my phone, keys, and bear spray. Post-ankle break hiking is filled with paranoia. Will I fall again? What if I fall and there is no one around? Are the bears and mountain lions watching me? Are they hungry? Or four-wheeling party men on a Friday night drinking? Hmmm...Oh well. I can't live my life in fear so just do it, camp it, and try not to worry. this should be a fun adventure not a worrisome nightmare. Maybe I need to buy a gun? It's only two days until my appointment. Hopefully I'll live to see it!

Hiking up the Hill

When the other van left the next morning, I took their spot since it's closer to the highway and I'll have to leave in the dark tomorrow to get to my early van appointment. I realized too late that there is no sun after 3pm since the trees shaded everything. You'd think this is wonderful, but I need that sun to keep the solars charged! I woke to 20% which is really nothing. I still had a two hour drive in the dark and then two hours of repairs. The Bluetti didn't go to zero percent and then blow up or melt all my frozen food (my greatest fear). Sunshine all day so they recharged.

After the van check, "burp" and confirmation everything is working properly, I washed the mud off my tire wells at the car wash, got water at Walmart, food at the health food store, then headed to New Mexico via highway 180 through Alpine again.

New Mexico near City of Rocks...still ugly, but now it's HOT!!!

What was I thinking? Once out of the higher elevation mountains it was 95 degrees in New Mexico! My plan is to head south to the beach where it is much cooler, but to get there I'll have to suffer the heat. Maybe this is a bad idea, but I've always wanted to see Texas!!